Strip guide



Feb. 1, 1955 G. DURST 2,700,907

STRIP GUIDE Filed Aug. 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 1, 1955 G. DURST 2,700,907

STRIP GUIDE Filed Aug. 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent ""ce 2,700,907 STRIP GUIDE George Durst, Attleboro, Mass., assignor to Metals & Controls Corporation, Attleboro, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 22, 1950, Serial No. 180,830 3 Claims. (CI. 78-90) This application relates to strip guides, and more particular to guides for guiding superposed metal strips to a rolling mill in which the strips are to be solid phase bonded together.

I have found that in the solid phase bonding of strips by rolling in a rolling mill, in order to accomplish satisfactory bonding it is important in many instances to hold the strips tightly together to avoid buckling and to prevent the strips from sliding sidewise relative to one another as they enter the rolls of the mill in which bonding is effected. By solid phase bonding, I mean bonding by a method involving rolling with a substantial reduction in thickness at a temperature so low that there is no formation of any liquid phase at the interface or interfaces of the strips being bonded. Reference is made to two copending applications of Helmich W. Boessen- R001 and George Durst, the first being entitled Bonded Metals and Their Manufacture, Serial No. 86,857, filed April 11, 1949, now abandoned, the second being entitled Solid Phase Bonding of Metals, Serial No. 204,346, filed January 4, 1951, for disclosures of such solid phase bonding. The object of this invention is the provision of a guide which is particularly suitable for this purpose. In general, the guide of this invention comprises a bed member over which the strips travel toward the rolls. Side guides are provided preventing sidewise movement of the strips as they travel over the bed member. A presser block is provided for pressing the strips against the bed member between the side guides to hold them tightly together to prevent buckling. Other features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of vari ous possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. l is a side elevation of a guide of this invention, diagrammatically illustrating the rolls of a rolling mill to show the location of the guide with respect thereto;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 22 of Pi l l igf 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is an end view of the guide as viewed from its mill end.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, a guide of this invention is shown to include a bed 1 comprising a plate, made of steel, for example, mounted on a base 3, such as the table of a rolling mill, closely adjacent the rolls 5 of the mill on the entrance side of the rolls. The top 7 of the bed plate 1 is in a horizontal plane parallel to and raised to some extent above the horizontal pass plane of the rolls. The forward end of the bed plate (that is, its end nearest the rolls 5) is positioned closely adjacent the nip of the rolls and is smoothly curved downward toward the nip of the rolls, as indicated at 9. Immediately rearward of its forward curved end, the plate has a transverse groove 11 in its top extending from one side of the plate to the other. Also in the top of the plate is a central longtiudinal groove 13 extending all the way from the rearward end of the plate to the transverse groove 11.

Inset in the transverse groove is a transverse facing insert 15, and inset in the longitudinal groove 13 is a 2,700,907 Patented Feb. '1, 1955 longitudinal facing insert 17. As shown best in Fig. 2, the transverse insert extends from one side of the plate 1 to the other, and the longitudinal insert extends from the rearward end of the plate to the transverse insert, with its forward end butted against the rearward edge of the transverse insert. The upper surfaces of the two inserts are coplanar, in a horizontal plane raised slightly above the flat horizontal upper surface of the plate 1. The inserts consist of flat rectangular pieces of a material which will not mar a metal strip sliding thereover, and preferably also resistant to wear which might otherwise be occasioned by such sliding. Wood, such as maple or birch, has been found to be an excellent material for the purpose, having excellent wear-resistant characteristics. Other materials such as hard rubber, felt, leather, Bakelite or vulcanite are suitable. The longitudinal insert 17 is preferably retained in the groove 13 as by a screw 19 extending into the insert through the plate 1 from its bottom, but not, of course, extending beyond the upper surface of the insert. The inserts could be made of one piece of material, but it is simpler to use two pieces.

On opposite sides of the longitudinal groove 13 and the longitudinal insert 17, are side guide members 21. Each of these consists of a bar of steel, for example, of rectangular cross-section (see Fig. 4), secured upon the top of plate 1 for adjustment transversely of the plate. The side guides 21 are relieved between their ends, as indicated at 22, and have vertical faces 23 at their ends located on opposite sides of the insert 17 facing one another in parallel relation for side-guiding the metal strips to be bonded as they slide over the insert 17. The guides are relieved as shown to reduce friction and drag on the edges of the strip. The rearward ends of the side guides are located well forward of the rear end of the plate 1, and the side guides extend forward over the transverse insert 15 substantially to the forward end of the plate 1, their forward ends being curved as indicated at 25 to engage the curved forward ends of the bed plate. The end faces 23 at the unrelieved ends of the side guides may be rovided with a hard, wear-resistant facing or inserts, for example, a facing or insert of Stellite. The side guides are rigidly secured to the plate 1, while providing for their transverse adjustment when required, by means of bolts and nut fasteners 27, with the heads of the bolts transversely slidable in transverse slots 29 in the top of the plate, the slots being of inverted T-shape in cross-section (see Fig. l), and extending inwardly from opposite sides of the plate 1. The bolts extend upward through bolt holes in the side guides, and the nuts are threaded down on the bolts rigidly to hold the side guides in adjusted position. By loosening the nuts, the side guides may be transversely adjusted while retaining them parallel to one another.

A horizontal platform 31 is supported above the bed plate 1 on posts 33 extending upward from the plate adjacent its sides. The side guides 21 have post-accommodating notches 35 in the outer sides thereof in the transverse planes of the posts to permit maximum transverse adjustment of the side guides. Mounted vertically on the platform is an air pressure cylinder 37 having a piston 39 and a piston rod 41 extending down through an opening in the platform. A head 43 carrying a presser block 45 is pivotally mounted at the lower end of the piston rod on an axis extending transverse to the length of the plate 1, as indicated at 47. The presser block 45 consists of a fiat rectangular piece of the same material as the inserts 15 and 17, having a width to provide a smooth sliding fit between side guides 21 with a minimum of clearance, and being of such length as to extend from a point somewhat rearward of the rear ends of the side guides 21 to the rearward edge of the transverse insert 15 (see Figs. 1 and 2). Fastened on the top of the presser block at its rearward end is a strap 49 extending transversely of the block with its ends projecting beyond the sides of the block engaging the rearward ends of the side guides 21 to keep the block from moving forward.

On the top of the bed plate 1 at its rearward end is an auxiliary guide device, generally designated 51, which is used particularly when the top strip of two or more of the metal strips to be bonded is relatively thin. The auxiliary guide device comprises a bridge 53 consisting of a member made of steel, for example, of inverted shallow U-shape, having a tlat deck 55 and end abutments 57. The bridge is secured on the top of the plate 1 extending transversely of the plate and bridged over the longitudinal insert 17 as shown in Fig. 3, securernent being effected as by screws 59 extending downward through holes in the abutment 57 of the bridge and threaded in the bed plate 1. The bridge is so dimensioned that the opening 61 under the deck 55 is wide enough and high enough for pasage of two or more strips of the maximum width and thickness to be accommodated, with the strips sliding on the insert 17 and in face-to-face engagement.

A pair of transversely spaced side guide pins 63 of circular cross-section extend vertically upward from the deck 55 on opposite sides of the insert 17 spaced apart a distance corresponding to the width of a strip to be guided. As shown, the pins have reduced-diameter shanks 64 fitted in openings in the deck. Above the deck is a presser block 65 made of the same material, for example, as the inserts and 17, having recesses 67 in its bottom accommodating the heads of the pins. Bolts 69 extend upward from the deck loosely through openings in the ends of the block 65, and wing nuts 71 are threaded on the bolts above the block for adjusting the pressure on a strip travelling between the block and the deck 55, the strip being side-guided by the pins 63.

For guiding two comparatively thick metal strips to the rolls 5, the side guides 21 are transversely adjusted so that their opposed vertical faces 23 are transversely spaced a distance corresponding to the width of the strips. The presser block 45 is raised by means of the pressure cylinder 37. Both the strips, which are disposed in superposed relation one on top of the other, are threaded through the opening 61 between the deck 55 of the bridge 53 and the insert 17, and through the space between the presser block 45 and the insert 17, and are curved downward at the forward end of the bed plate 1 and entered in the rolls 5. The presser block 4-5 is then moved downward by the cylinder 37 and biased toward the bed plate to maintain pressure on the strips to hold them tightly pressed together between the side guides 21 as they are pulled through the guide by the rolls 5. The curvature imparted to the strips at the forward end of the guide aids in keeping the top strip from sliding sidewise on the bottom strip.

For guiding a thick strip and a thin strip, the strips are arranged with the thin strip above the thick strip. The side guides 21 are adjusted to be transversely spaced a distance corresponding to the width of the strips, the

pins 63 also being transversely spaced this same distance. The thick strip is threaded through the opening 61, and the thin strip is threaded between the deck 55 and the presser block 65. Both strips are then threaded between the presser block 45 and insert 17, and curved downward at the forward end of the plate 1 and entered in the rolls 5. The pressure of presser block 65 on the thin strip is adjusted by means of wing nut 71. Pressure is maintained on the block 45 to hold the strips tightly pressed together. The pins 63 are preferably of relatively large diameter. In conjunction with deck 55 and presser block 65, they form a closed guide which works somewhat better in preventing sidewise movement of the thin strip than the end faces 23 of side guides 21. In the case of thin strip, the guide constituted by the broad faces 23 of side guides 21, the insert 17 and the presser block 45 is sometimes ineffective properly to guide such strip, as there must be such clearance between the block 45 and faces 23 that, in some instances, if the auxiliary guide is not used, a thin strip will creep sidewise and its edge will bend up into the space between one side of the block 45 and a side guide face 23. This causes a disastrous bunching up of the thin strip. By using the auxiliary guide for guiding thin strip, however, such sidewise creeping and bunching up of the thin strip may be avoided. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the pins 63, deck 55 and block 65 form a closed guide such as to prevent any possibility of the strip creeping sidewise and its edge bending up between a pin and the side edge of the block, assuming sullicient pressure is applied as between the block and the deck. The thin strip issues from the auxiliary guide and enters the main guide in perfect registration, and it has been found to guide perfectly through the main guide despite the substantial clearance between the sides of the presser block 45 and side guide faces 23.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A guide for guiding superposed metal strips, comprising a flat bed member over which the strips travel, side guides for preventing sidewise movement of the strips as they travel over the bed member, a presser block for pressing the strips against the bed member between the side guides, and an auxiliary guide device on the bed member rearward of the rear ends of the side guides in respect to the direction of travel of the strips comprising a transverse bridge member, side guide pins extending upward from the top of the bridge member, and a presser block for pressing a strip against the top of the bridge member.

2. A guide for guiding superposed strips of metal comprising a bed member, side guides on the bed member for preventing sidewise movement of the strips as they travel over the bed member, each guide comprising a bar extending longitudinally of the bed member and mounted on the bed member for adjustment transversely of the bed member, posts extending upward from the bed member adjacent its sides, a platform on the posts, a cylinder mounted in vertical position on the platform, a piston reciprocable in the cylinder, a piston rod extending downward from the piston, a presser block on the lower end of the rod for pressing the strips against the bed member, and means on the presser block engaging the rearward ends of the side guide bars to prevent forward movement of the block, the bed member being fiat from its rearward end substantially to its forward end in the direction of the travel of the strips and being curved at its fow/ard end to impart a curvature to the strips, the side guide bars extending over the curved forward end of the bed and being curved therewith.

3. A guide for guiding superposed strips of metal comprising a bed member having a longitudinal groove and a transverse groove adjacent its forward end intersecting the longitudinal groove, inserts in said grooves of wearresistant material which is non-marring to metal sliding thereover, the inserts projecting above the face of the bed member, and the forward end of the insert in the longitudinal groove being butted against the insert in the transverse groove, side guides on opposite sides of the insert in the longitudinal groove for preventing sidewise movement of the strips as they travel over the bed member, each guide comprising a bar extending longitudinally of the bed member and mounted on the bed member for adjustment transversely of the bed member, the inner sides of the bars which face one another being relieved to reduce friction and drag on the strips, posts extending upward from the bed member adjacent its sides, a platform on the posts, a cylinder mounted in vertical position on the platform, a piston reciprocable in the cylinder, a piston rod extending downward from the piston, a presser block of wear-resistant material which is nonmarring to metal sliding thereover pivoted at the lower end of the rod for pressing the strips against the longitudinal insert, and means on the presser block engaging the rearward ends of the side guide bars to prevent forward movement of the block, the bed member being flat from its rearward end substantially to its forward end in the direction of the travel of the strips and being curved at its forward end to impart a curvature to the strips, the side guide bars extending over the curved forward end of the bed and being curved therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,955,072 Jordan Apr. I7, 1934 2,095,733 Coryell Oct. 12, i937 2,133,05l Bollinger Oct. ll, 1938 2.143544 Harper Jan. H), 1939 2,165,104 Klein July 4, 1939 2,192,409 McBain Mar. 5, 1940 2,247,050 Campbell June 24, 1941 2,348,258 Klein May 9, 1944 

